The head of Tennis Australia has confirmed that fans attending the Australian Open will be allowed to wear ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ t-shirts after one attendee was told to remove theirs last Friday.
The Grand Slam has been under criticism after video footage emerged of a security guard asking one member of the public to remove their item of clothing or they would not be allowed into the facility. Shortly afterwards officials released a statement saying that the event doesn’t allow ‘clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political.’
Shuai is a former world No.1 doubles player and Grand Slam champion who made allegations of sexual assault against a senior Chinese official last year in a social media post published on Weibo. Shortly after that she disappeared from the public eye, sparking concerns over her wellbeing from the tennis community and the campaign ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ started. She has since resurfaced in public via videos and photos which has mainly been published by media outlets linked to the Chinese government. However, there are still fears she is being censored by authorities and the WTA has suspended their events in the country due to those concerns.
The original decision to ban the T-shirts from Melbourne Park drew heavy criticism from those within the sport. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova described the move as ‘pathetic’ and Nicolas Mahut said it showed a ‘lack of courage.’ Mahut, who is a former doubles champion at the Australian Open, questioned if the decision was influenced by Tennis Australia’s partnership with sponsors based in China.
The Australian Open currently has a five-year deal with Chinese alcoholic beverage company Luzhou Laojiao which began back in 2018. One of their courts is named 1573 Arena after the company’s Guojiao 1573 brand.
Amid the reaction, Tennis Australia has now done a u-turn and confirmed that those attending are allowed to wear ‘peaceful’ t-shirts as long as they are not disruptive at the event. Australian Open tournament director Craig Tiley told The Press Association that there has been confusion over their stance on the matter.
“We were on the journey at the very beginning with the WTA and that’s because we’re well connected in the region. We agree with the WTA’s position,” said Tiley.
“However, coming onto the site we have some terms and conditions that are pretty clear and that is, if you are coming on site with the purpose of disrupting the safety and comfort of fans, you’re not welcome. But if you want to wear a T-shirt that says ‘Where’s Peng Shuai?’, you can come on site, that’s fine.
“There was a suspicion around the motivation of that individual coming on site but we’ve since contacted that person and told her that she’s welcome to come on site, she’s welcome to wear a T-shirt, but not bring a banner, because you can’t bring banners on site.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with a political or commercial statement. Our security people are trained to take a common sense approach, and I think that’s in the interest of everyone.”
Friday’s incident triggered a gofundme Page to be set up to raise money to print more ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ T-shirts. As of January 25th it has generated more than 400 donations which have generated over AUS$18, 000 in funds.
